Review Date
August 20, 2012

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: Jason ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Great trails. A nice variety of very technical, technical, and knda technical, somewhat flowy stuff. I don't get to ride trails like this often, as I have been riding in the Piedmont of NC for the past 4 years (previously from NEPA). My parents bought a place in Glade Springs a few years ago and I just recently learned of these trails. I had an excellent experience. I went late morning on a beautiful Saturday in August. In 2 hours of riding, I didn't see another rider. I had the whole park to myself. I am thinking this is a hidden gem. I'm looking forward to coming back and exploring more of the trails. I think I only rode about half of them.

Recommended Route:
I parked in the main parking lot and then hit a trail towards the bottom of the lot on the left (traveling downhill). It takes you to the top if you follow it all the way and you can access a few trails from there. I just hit trails at random and referenced the park map to find my way back.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Never rode anything else in the area. Any recommendations would be great.

Review Date
July 16, 2010

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: mtbbc ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Likes:Trail variety,good flow ,very little climbing for our area,well marked,rock gardens,in a State Park,restrooms & maps at main entrance,did i mention th rocks ?
Dis Likes:Way too many trail names for apprx 19 miles of riding,checking th map every 1/2 mile for first timer stinks Hint:KISS:keep it simple silly !
Overall enjoyed the evening

Recommended Route:
Next trip i will go :
In at Railroad,Right on Larurel Creek (full circle)out other Railroad left on Weaver Way,then Deer Trail ,Nature Ridge,Hemlock,Little Beaver to Billys Goat Gruff and out or if need more back to lb,Black Bear ,Rhododendron Run,Easy Street bac out Nature Ridge to parking
SEE TOO MANY NAMES

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Bluefield City Park

Review Date
April 18, 2010

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Tha Criddler ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Started out on "Railroad Grade" which was nothing but a rock bed and was strangely listed as an easy ride on the map that I had. It took me to a trail called "Weaver Way" and "Laurel Creek". I saw on my map that these 2 trails could be linked for a 4.1 mile trail. I rode these 2 trails and found them to be challenging. There were tons of tight trails and an insane amount of rocks and roots. Fair amount of climbing and very little flow. It was at least 50% technical stuff. Any time you found some flow it would be followed by a creek crossing or and insane rock garden. I walked the bike a little more than I would want to. These 2 trails were listed as "Moderate". Crazy cause by the parks scale these trails would be 2nd from easiest. I couldn't imagine "Billy Goats Gruff" if it's listed as 3x harder. I started to explore another trail the I believed to be another section of the "Railroad Grade" Trail and ended up turning around after a half a mile due to massive number of rocks. There is only so much technical rock work I'm willing to do in a day. There needs to be more flow. Like one rider from VA said in there review, there is tons of raw material, so why just have every trail filled rocks and roots. I need to explore more. Hopefully they can do a little more trail marking in the near future cause I felt like I was lost a couple times.

Here are some pictures. I didn't get any of the gnarly rock sections cause I was either pushing or trying not to slam.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/thumb/88462699.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1271645771&Signature=WcPh22Ec25%2BqB63qH0cgT5E%2FJuU%3D
http://web7.twitpic.com/img/88484565-84f1d1f70c731d9d871483f9f787084b.4bcbc1e8-thumb.jpg
http://web7.twitpic.com/img/88555507-12f8b20441c307e49292d3f7a81f2163.4bcbc1e8-thumb.jpg
http://web3.twitpic.com/img/88556848-464d69981520a50af373fb53befa3589.4bcbc1e8-thumb.jpg
http://web2.twitpic.com/img/88557115-95b3bd5f46281b0eec6f40129bf6f379.4bcbc1e8-thumb.jpg

Recommended Route:
Park beside the restrooms. Go back the way you came and go up the little dirt road beside the restrooms. This will take you to the "Railroad Grade" head which will take you to trails I was on plus a harder one. Go away from the restrooms to find the rest of the trails.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
YMCA Soccer Field trails
Fayetteville city park trails.

Comments

Tha Criddler (04/18/2010)

Sorry it I can't seem to edit my post to correct the pics.

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Review Date
September 6, 2006

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Big Al ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I was expecting more of an aerobic challenge. As Marlboro mentioned a rating of 4. I found the trail relatively flat for a WVA trail.Many parts of these trails are too close to stream beds. They should be directed up hill from streams, both wet and dry. I did enjoy the technical rock gardens but enough is enough, the addition of more up and down slopes away from the rocks would make for a better ride. I ride in Central and Eastern VA and our volunteer network would kill for some of the raw material you have to work with. All in all I did enjoy the ride and hope to return at a later date.

Recommended Route:
Still trying to figure it out.

Review Date
August 25, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: Marlboro ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Little beaver now has over 20 miles of trails within it boundaries. Aside from the popular Rhododendron Run, Creekbed, Beaver Creek, and others, several new trails have been made recently and are quite nice.

Little Beaver is a GREAT place to ride, whether beginner or expert -- you'll find something you like. No matter what your skill level is - I'm sure you can find something that WILL challenge you to the max.

I selected 4 for aerobic and technical for these trails - but you in places it can be a 5 or more. For example, Deer Run is a nice single track with tight turns, fairly flat - but Billy Goats Gruff is an extreme technical section that is only recommended for expert class riders or ones with a deathwish (aint that bad - but you get the idea).

Recommended Route:
Park at the 2nd parking area. Ride back out to the paved road (that you just came in on) and hang a RIGHT to head up the gravel road. At the first right hand curve in the gravel road, you'll see a pile of gravel on the left(used for maintenance). Just past the gravel pile, you'll see an orange ribbon hanging off a bush -- thats the trail entrance to the newest trail. About 1 mile long to the next interesection - its a great warmup for whats next.

At the interesection, stay left (5 trails meet in this general area) and cross the creek (usually dry unless its rained hard recently - but still ridable) - either shoot straight up the hill or take the 2nd left after you cross the creek. Both of these will meet up later.

Once done, you will have riden about 3 miles total. Of course, at the end of these are even more trails to pick and choose from.

Best bet would be to meet up with the group rides on Tuesday evenings (we meet at 5:30-6:00pm) - and some MTB'ers are there on Thursday evenings too.